A Different Kind of Pain
by Betty BOKOR
Summary: SamDaniel. Sam experiences a difficult loss.
1. Chapter 1

**A Different Kind of Pain** by Betty Bokor  
Sam/Daniel/Teal'c? Sam experiences a difficult loss.  
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9 and 10.  
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

**A Different Kind of Pain**

**Chapter 1**

When they finally got through the gate, Sam was doubling over in pain. Teal'c picked her up in his arms and the whole team rushed toward the Infirmary instead of waiting for Dr. Lam to come to the gate. After they had left her in good hands, Cameron, Teal'c, and Daniel sat outside the Infirmary waiting for news. Soon they were joined by General Landry.

"At ease, Colonel. What happened out there with Colonel Carter?" he asked.

"We have no idea, " Cam confessed.

"First we thought it could be appendicitis, but the pain was in the wrong side of her abdomen," Daniel explained.

"She wasn't injured by the enemy?" Landry tried.

"We were already far from their camp. I don't think they even know we finally escaped. They usually didn't come to check up on us for at least four or five days."

"Besides, she didn't have any visible external injuries, but she must have been bleeding internally. She started hemorrhaging right before we got here." Daniel added.

"ColonelCarter began suffering pain after the second day of our journey back to the stargate, when we were already out of reach from the Baraits. There could have been other tribes faithful to the Ori around, but I believe we were not approached by any of them," Teal'c concluded.

"Well, we'll have to wait and see. I'm only glad that you're all back here. If this had happened while you were still imprisoned by those people, who knows if she would have survived it," Landry said. "We have a very lengthy debriefing coming, but I think we can all wait until the doctors are done with Colonel Carter and all of you. I have many issues to discuss. You've been away from here for more than a month and, in spite of all the intel you've gathered, we have been struggling without you."

"I know, General, the SGC can't live without us," Cam joked.

"I'm starting to think so," the General said and left the room

"Dr. Jackson, what are you doing out there?" Dr. Brightman asked as she opened the Infirmary door. "According to these reports, you suffered serious injuries during your captivity. You may still need medical attention. Please, come in." She looked at the other teammates and added. "We'll check up on both of you soon."

Daniel looked at Cam as he followed the doctor. "How did they know?"

"I had to tell them when I was radioing my reports," Cam answered as he shrugged.

Inside the Infirmary, Dr. Lam approached Sam.

"Sam," Carolyn said as she carefully touched her patient's shoulder. "I know you're in pain, but before I give you anything I need to talk about this with you."

Sam was lying on her side, in a fetal position, trying to control her pain. She turned around slightly and Carolyn helped her slowly sit up. "What's going on?" Sam asked.

"Sam, are you seeing someone?"

"What?"

"I asked if you're seeing someone, if you have a boyfriend or something like that."

"No, why?"

"I've checked everything twice to be certain, but there's no doubt of what's going on."

"What?"

"You're having a miscarriage."

"No! It can't be," she immediately said. Then she leaned backwards against the pillows and closed her eyes. Carolyn saw the tears coming down her cheeks and held her hand. "It could be," Sam said very softly, without opening her eyes. "It could be."

"All right. Do you know who's the father, Sam?"

"Yes."

"Was it forced or consensual?" the young doctor asked.

"Consensual," Sam answered very softly.

"Would you like me to call him? He probably should know."

"I don't know. It was more an act of desperation than anything else."

"I understand, but still, you'd better have him here."

"Do you think I miscarried because of the escape?"

"No, Sam, I believe you'd have miscarried anyway. From what I've seen, it was an ectopic pregnancy. It's better that you lost the baby so early. It could have damaged your Fallopian Tubes if it continued growing there. It really didn't have a chance." More tears fell down Sam's cheek and Carolyn asked one more question. "Sam, did you want this baby?"

"I don't know. I didn't think I could get pregnant."

"You shouldn't. The Program is still keeping you on contraception shots. It shouldn't have happened. We'll have to investigate that, but my question was if you wanted a baby."

"I really didn't think about it. There's always been something more important, but now that he was there, inside me, I would have carried him all the way. I wish he was still there," she sobbed.

"I'm very sorry, Sam. Listen, you're going through the miscarriage in a natural way. Your body is almost done with the hard part. It will take a few more days to clean up inside, but the pain will go away soon."

"Okay," Sam said, moving back to lie on her side.

"I have to report this to my father and Cam. Do you have any problems with them finding out through me?"

"No."

"Do you want me to tell Daniel and Teal'c too?"

"No, please. I'll tell them. Ask them to come in before you talk to Cam."

"All right. I will. Hang in there. It's almost over."

As soon as Dr. Lam left her alone in the room, Sam started crying again. She was surprised about how sad she was that she had lost the baby. She had never even thought seriously about having a child and now that the baby was dead, she wanted him more than anything in her life. She would have left everything, everything for him.

A while later, Teal'c entered the room following Daniel who was wearing the Infirmary scrubs.

Sam raised her head and saw them and she immediately grew concerned.

"Daniel, are you all right?"

"DanielJackson will remain in the Infirmary until his injuries have healed," Teal'c said.

"They're healing fine. They just want to keep me here longer as always," Daniel protested. Then, he kneeled by the side of Sam's bed and grabbed her hand. "Dr. Lam said you were going to be fine, but that you wanted to talk to us."

"Yes, I wanted to tell you myself." She stretched a little to be able to look at both of them. "You're the only people who know what happened the night of the rain, so you'll understand what's going on." She paused for a second and sighed. "I'm having a miscarriage. I was pregnant, but the baby was in the wrong place, so I lost it."

"Ectopic? An ectopic pregnancy?" Daniel asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, Sam, I'm so sorry," he said. He squeezed her hand and, as he noticed that she had been crying and was about to cry again, he asked, "Did you want the baby?"

Sam nodded as she started crying again and Teal'c approached her. He sat by her side and held her other hand. "You will have more chances of having a child, Samantha. It is indeed sad that you have lost this one, but you are still young and you will be pregnant again."

"No, I won't," Sam said as she sobbed. "I don't have anyone in my life. That was my last chance."

"This is all my fault," Daniel said as he got up and sat in front of Sam.

"You were injured, DanielJackson. You did not participate in the decision-making," Teal'c reminded him.

"I didn't stop it either."

"This is no one's fault. If anyone's, it was the Barait's, but it happened and we were all fine about it afterwards," Sam said feeling more worried about her teammates than about herself. "Nobody would have ever known if this hadn't happened. Now we'll have to explain it."

"Indeed."

"You won't try and absolve me because I was injured," Daniel said.

"We will tell the truth," Teal'c firmly said.

"It really doesn't matter. What I want to know is what we can do to help you, Sam."

"Nothing, just be here like always," she said as she held both their hands.

A couple of days later, Cameron was called to General Landry's office.

"Colonel Mitchell, please, sit down," Landry said from behind his desk. "I called you here to talk about your team. You've read the reports on what happened between your teammates before you were captured by the Baraits and I'd like to hear your opinion on the matter. If you think they'd be a liability for the team, we might need to separate them and put them on different teams."

"Oh, no, General. You know how hard it was to get them all back. We can't separate them now. We need them all together. They work together like a fine machine. Sometimes I feel I'm just going along for the ride." Landry made a fake gesture of surprise and Cam smiled. "I shouldn't have said that, eh?"

"Do you really think this wouldn't disrupt the team's concentration?" Landry went back to his original point.

"It happened almost a month ago and I haven't seen any difference in them since then. We concluded the mission as planned, we gathered all the information we needed, we made it out of there alive… I mean, if they hadn't told us, I'd never have guessed."

"That's what I thought. These days, there's not much I have to justify about SG-1 to the President. He trusts your team. No matter what we asked for them, I'd say Hayes would be willing to help, especially for any of the other three, if you don't mind me saying so. They've saved this world more times that we'd like to remember."

"I understand, General, and, to be honest, I don't care what they do as long as they keep working with us. I know that Sam would have to get a desk job if she got pregnant, but meanwhile, I want them all. I don't mind if they decide to marry, be lovers, or just sleep together on occasion. I think we've already asked too much of them."

"I don't think this will go beyond what happened there. However, if it does, we'll re-evaluate the situation then," Landry said, ending the conversation.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Any comments? Please, take a minute and give your opinion. It is very important for me to know what the readers think in order to decide how to continue a story or write the next one, or, if there is no interest, stop posting it here.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Different Kind of Pain** by Betty Bokor  
Sam/Daniel/Teal'c? Sam experiences a difficult loss.  
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9 and 10.  
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

**A Different Kind of Pain**

**Chapter 2**

"ColonelCarter, are you not coming to the celebration?" Teal'c asked as he entered Sam's lab.

"Hi, Teal'c. I'll be there, I promise. I just wanted to finish this paperwork," she answered and kept typing her report.

"Are you still thinking about your lost baby?" her friend asked all of a sudden and Sam stopped typing and looked at him.

"How would you know that?" she asked with a smile.

"In spite of the six months that have passed since your unfortunate miscarriage, you still spend time deep in thought, with your sight fixed on some distant point of the horizon."

"And I never did that before?"

"There's a profound sorrow to it that was not there before."

"You're right, Teal'c. There's sadness. I never thought I'd miss him so much since I never really had him."

"You always talk about the child as a _'him'_ when you refer to it."

"I know. I keep thinking he would have been a boy… and would have looked like his father," she smiled.

"Have you given any thought to the idea of trying an anonymous donor, as DanielJackson suggested?"

"No, I don't want to do that. I still have the hope that I'll find someone who'd like to have a child with me _and_ share the rest of our lives," she smiled again.

"I am certain you will find such a man. If that were not the case, the offer DanielJackson and I made, still stands."

"I know, I know, I can always count on you. I've thought about it now and then in the past months, but now that you have brought Ishta here and you have a chance to start a new family with her, I don't think it would be a good idea."

"DanielJackson is still free," Teal'c reminded her. "And after today's great victory against the Ori and the Wraith, you are in a better position to think of a child."

"Yeah, but we haven't won the war yet."

"One step at a time, Samantha. Now, come with me and join the celebration."

The next evening Teal'c decided to talk to Daniel about it.

"Have you talked with SamanthaCarter about the baby lately, DanielJackson?" he asked as they both sat down to have dinner in a small restaurant in Colorado Springs.

"The baby? No, we haven't talked about it for a while. Why? Is there something going on?"

"She is still longing for a child."

"I know. She thinks she's getting too old to have another child."

"She still has time; she just needs the right man."

"Yep, that's true. Maybe we should talk to Jack about this. It might help him make a decision," Daniel suggested.

"I do not believe O'Neill is the right man for SamanthaCarter. He is a warrior and a leader whom I admire, but he is not a match for her personality. She is a passionate woman with many different interests, who would not be happy spending idle days in a cabin by a fishless lake."

Daniel looked at Teal'c with surprise. "You've thought about it, too, eh? I agree with you Teal'c, but if that's what she wants…"

"I do not believe that is what she wants. She may have had an interest in O'Neill in the past, but since his departure, it has apparently cooled off."

"You think? What worries me is why nothing happened and I don't dare ask."

"Perhaps they both arrived to the same conclusion."

"I don't know, but you're right. I'll talk to Sam tonight. I'll check up on her after dinner. Do you want to come with me?"

"I believe you should talk to her on your own. I had a short talk with her yesterday,"

"Okay. We'll see what she says."

After dinner Daniel drove directly to Sam's house. He rang the bell and waited for a while. He saw lights inside, but she did not answer. He tried again and finally she came to the door.

"Hey, Sam. I hope it's not too late for-" He stopped immediately as he noticed she had swollen red eyes and a handkerchief in her hand. He walked inside and closed the door behind him.

Sam stood in front of him immobile and quiet. Daniel reached for her and hugged her tightly. She started crying again as soon as he did. They stood together for a while, Daniel softly stroking her back as Sam cried, until her sobbing slowly ended. He gently walked with her and they sat down in the sofa.

"Do you want to tell me what's going on?" he asked tenderly.

She hesitated for a while and then she answered. "I miss the baby."

"Sam, you didn't even know you were pregnant before you lost him," he tried reasoning with her.

"I know; that's what bothers me the most, that I couldn't feel him inside me. How could I have not known?"

"Sam, we were living in horrible conditions. When you started showing symptoms and throwing up, we all thought you had the same fever I had had."

"But I was the mother!" She started crying quietly again.

Daniel hugged her one more time and changed his tactic. "Sam, listen to me," he said as he held her. "I think that the problem is that you really wanted a baby, but had never allowed yourself to recognize it. You've always been the perfect soldier and you haven't left any room for the other side of you to surface. Now, you had to face it the worst way possible. You found out what you were loosing before you even got to know what you had."

"I don't understand why it hurts so much," she managed to say.

"This is a hard time in your life, Sam. In the last years you've lost your father, one of your best friends, and many other people who were important to you, like Martouf or Narim."

"I even lost you, twice."

"I'm here, Sam, but we're in the middle of a war and few people know it, and we have to show a happy face to the rest of the world, even when we're hurting so badly inside." Sam sighed deeply and Daniel kept talking. "I've tried not to intrude in your life, Sam, especially after what happened with Pete, but it's time we have a talk. I won't be able to help you if I don't know what's really going on."

"Nothing is going on," She said as she straightened and left Daniel's arms.

"What about Jack, Sam? What happened with him?"

"What do you mean?"

"Sam, for years I've witnessed the two of you flirting back and forth, even in the worst of circumstances. I haven't said a word, but today we need to be honest about everything."

"It's easy for you to say. I'm the one who has to be honest."

"I'll make you a deal. I'll answer anything you want to know about me, anything, after we talk about you. Does it sound fair?"

"Okay. What do you want to know?"

"I told you. Let's start with Jack. I was almost certain that he was the reason why the relationship with Pete didn't work out and then I thought that Jack had agreed to replace Hammond in Washington to be able to be with you. I waited and waited for the two of you to come up with the good news and nothing happened. Why? I know you both had feelings for each other. Why didn't it work out, or are you still waiting?"

"He still is in my chain of command. He'll always be, one way or another, until he retires."

"So, you're still waiting for him. That's why you can't explore other options."

"I'm not waiting for him, Daniel. I closed that chapter right after I lost the baby."

"What happened?"

"You're right about one thing. Jack is the reason why I couldn't go on with Pete. Pete was a little bit pushy. He proposed very early in the relationship. He bought a house as soon as we started planning the wedding. It had taken me a while to accept the proposal and I had even asked Jack for his opinion. It was the wrong thing to do, to ask a superior officer about this kind of thing, and I think what I really wanted was for him to stop me and tell me that I had a reason to let Pete go, but he didn't say anything. So, I accepted Pete's proposal and I began the wedding preparations. Then, I suddenly felt trapped and I saw that I was letting all my chances to be with Jack slip away. I can't believe I was so delusional."

"Sam, you weren't delusional. We all thought the same."

"Did you?" Daniel nodded and Sam smiled. "I'm amazed we were so obvious." Daniel shrugged slightly. "So, I let Pete go. I wasn't nice to him. I don't know what was wrong with me," she sighed. "I went to Jack's house, decided to face the issue, and I found him with Kerry Johnson."

"You found him?" Daniel asked confused.

"They were just barbecuing, but it was easy to see that there was something else going on. Then I found out my Dad was sick and I left. After Dad died, Jack was there by my side. I thought you were dead; I had nobody else. I started thinking that it was unfair to hold Agent Johnson against him; I had been with Pete by then. So I went back to waiting for the right time."

"And?"

"And nothing ever happened. He left for Washington without a word." Daniel kept silent and Sam continued. "The truth is I still had hope something would happen, Daniel. I don't know why I clung to him when I could have made many other choices."

"You said you've changed your mind."

"Yes, I have. After the miscarriage he came to see me. He was very nice; he brought flowers and chocolates."

"I didn't know he was in town at that time," Daniel said.

"He wasn't. He flew in the day Teal'c and you left me alone in the house for the first time." Daniel looked down. He was surprised Jack had not said anything about it. Sam continued and he went back to paying attention to her. "Then he told me that in a way it was better that I had lost the baby so soon; that it would have been worse if he had died later on, after I had gotten already used to the idea of having him. He also said we were all getting old and that we had no space in our lives for a baby."

"Seriously?"

"Yes, and he was talking about Teal'c, you and I, too."

"I don't feel old. I'd love to have a child someday."

"But you're not ready yet."

"Anytime. If a child comes, he or she will be welcome. After all the death and destruction we've witnessed, I'd never reject life, the hope for a better future."

Sam smiled. "I should have known you'd think that way." Daniel smiled and Sam patted him in the arm. "I never thank you enough for being my friend. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Ah, you'd replace me with a better looking, more charming, younger, and smarter guy," he said with a grin.

"Like whom?" she joked back.

"What about Kvasir?"

Sam elbowed him softly. "He's a little bit too short, but you're right about the rest," she said as she smiled broadly. "Especially about the charming part."

"Ouch, you hurt my feelings!" he said.

"Stop stalling, Daniel. I told you everything. Now it's your turn to spill your guts."

"You didn't tell me how Jack's visit ended."

"Fine, just fine, but I was disillusioned about him. He was effectively telling me that he wouldn't have a baby with me if we ever got together. At least that's how I saw it and everything went downhill from there."

"I'm sorry, Sam."

"Nothing you can do."

"You're sure you don't want me to talk to Jack?"

"No, please, don't. I don't want to go back there."

"All right. My turn then. Shoot."

"The truth is there's not much I don't know about you, Daniel. You hide your pain and your personal anguish pretty well, but the rest of you is an open book. We all know what you think and what you'd like to do about everything else."

"That bad, eh?"

"It's not bad. We know where you stand and sometimes I wish that were true for many other people."

"So, what do you want to do now?"

"If I show you something, you won't think I'm crazy?"

"I've known you're crazy for a long time. Nothing would surprise me now." Daniel said very seriously.

Sam looked at him for a second and then noticed he was trying very hard not to laugh. "Oh, come on," she said and got up from the sofa as she smiled at him. "Come with me."

She took him to her room and opened a dresser drawer. She picked up a light blue box and sat on the edge of the bed. Daniel sat by her side and looked at the box. Sam opened it carefully and revealed some baby clothes and a pair of baby shoes.

"Those are beautiful, Sam," Daniel said, but he kept his other comments to himself. He wanted to hear what she had to say.

"I know. After we came back and _'you know what'_ happened, I went out one afternoon and I saw them in a shop window at the mall. I had never stopped to look at that store before, never. Then suddenly, I couldn't resist going in. The lady inside asked me if I was pregnant and I said yes, I don't know why. She helped me choose these little things and I bought them. I knew there was no baby, but I wanted to feel the sensation. I'm sure I would have bought them if I had found out earlier that I was pregnant." She could not keep talking and she softly started crying again. Daniel closed the box and put it on the bed. Then he hugged her.

"Listen, Sam. I'm sure there's going to be another baby to wear those clothes and when he grows up you can tell him about the first baby who made you understand how much you wanted to be a mother." He made her look at him and said, "I have something Cam gave me and we didn't know if we should give it to you. I think it will be better if I do." He let her go and reached for his wallet in his back pocket.

Sam stopped crying and waited for him to show her. Daniel opened the wallet and took a picture from it. It was folded in two and as he opened it, Sam saw herself standing between Teal'c and Daniel in the middle of the Barait village.

"I'm sure you remember. This is the day Cam joined us in the village, before they decided that we were a threat and they imprisoned us. He was taking pictures of everything and he made us stop what we were doing and took this picture. He didn't include it in his report because it had no strategic value. I think that it was the only picture taken of you while you were pregnant, because by then they had taken my camcorder away."

"Did you want to keep it?" Sam asked.

"I can get another copy from Cam. Teal'c has one. We just didn't know if it would make it worse if we gave one to you, but I think it will be better that you have it. The baby was there, with us, and whenever you look at it, I want you to only remember how much we would have loved him if he had come into our lives, as much as we'll love any baby of yours."

Sam and Daniel talked for a while until Daniel convinced her to try to sleep, promising to continue their talk the following day. He waited by her side until she fell asleep and then left the house silently.

On the way home Daniel reflected on how much that night had affected her. It had affected him and it had affected Teal'c, too. Sam had said that everything would go back to normal and, for a while, he had been willing to believe it, but, over the months, one by one the different consequences had become obvious. The most important was, without a doubt, Sam's depression over the loss of the baby. That night the three of them had been under the impression that the contraceptive shots were protecting Sam and the idea of a pregnancy had never entered their minds.

He knew that if the pregnancy had been normal and ended with the birth of the child, there would have been no regrets. The members of the original SG-1 shared a bond deeper than anyone could see from the outside. Perhaps Janet had been able to feel the bindings between the teammates, maybe even General Hammond, but Daniel doubted anyone else could see it in all its magnitude.

He believed Teal'c felt guilty because he had been unable to anticipate the consequences. Since the incident he had been paying careful attention to Sam's reactions and trying to find a way to help her deal with it. The problem was that Sam did not have any problems with _'it'_, but only with miscarrying the baby afterwards. During his dinner with Daniel, Teal'c had raised the issue that it seemed that Sam not only wanted a baby but a life shared with the baby and its father. After battling tirelessly against their enemies, suddenly, everything had taken second place to the idea of being a mother and nurturing a family.

Teal'c felt that if he had found a different solution the _day of the big rain_, Sam would not have gone through the miscarriage and would have never missed what she was longing for now.

Daniel was not sure if that was bad. He did not want to see Sam cross the barrier to the age when she would not physiologically be able to mother a child and all of a sudden find out that she had wanted it. At least now she was still capable and they could all work on finding a solution.

Daniel also had a problem of his own. All night long he had feared Sam would ask him about his feelings and that his answer would in any way aggravate Sam's problems. He did not want to burden her with his own pain. He had already admitted to himself, but yet not to anyone else, that the whole situation was affecting him. He had slowly started desiring the same thing Sam wanted. He had repeatedly been going back to the time of his marriage to Sha're and the hopes they had shared of having a child. She had miscarried once and, because of her young age, Daniel had thought they would have plenty of time to try again later. If only he had guessed what was coming to them.

Now Sha're was gone and even the strong feelings he had had for her were slowly diluting in his memory, especially since his first ascension. If he wanted to ever get to have a family again, he would have to start looking for a woman who could love him like she had and that did not look like an easy task. Almost eight years had passed since her death and he had not even seen one good candidate.

After he arrived home, Daniel walked in the dark to his room and simply lay on top of the covers on his bed. He did not feel like even changing his clothes. After all, it was not like anyone was going to wake him up in the morning with a kiss.

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Any comments? Please, take a minute and give your opinion. It is very important for me to know what the readers think in order to decide how to continue a story or write the next one, or, if there is no interest, stop posting it here.


	3. Chapter 3

**A Different Kind of Pain** by Betty Bokor  
Sam/Daniel. Sam experiences a difficult loss.  
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9 and 10.  
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

**A Different Kind of Pain**

**Chapter 3**

Sam could hear the rain hitting hard on the precarious roof of the house –hut, she would have called it– the Barait had offered them when they arrived to the village. A group of armed men had encountered them on their way to the falls and had taken them to the small rural community. Cam, who had been a few steps behind and out of sight of the villagers, had remained apart to be able to help them in case they were locked away. They were supposed to join the population of the village and gather information on the activities of the Ori on their planet. The SGC had proof that the Ori visited the planet once every forty-five days and SG-1 had been sent to find out why.

Daniel had spent the last few minutes cleaning his glasses and then he had approached the window to look at the gray afternoon sky. Sam saw him suddenly change his attitude and become alert, and seconds later he opened the door and ran out of the house as he yelled "He's going to kill her!"

Sam called Teal'c, who was in the adjacent room, and ran after Daniel toward the small town square. By the time she reached the center of the commotion, Daniel was engaged in combat with a large man. A group of villagers had started gathering around the contenders and quickly formed a ring around them to prevent any interference.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"Ludius has renounced his wife. He was going to end her life and free himself to be able to marry a younger woman, when your friend there interfered," one of the men told her.

Sam kept the acid comment that came to her mind as she heard about the barbaric custom the villagers seemed to condone and paid attention to the fight. The man was as tall as Daniel, but he was larger, heavier. He was much younger than his wife and Sam imagined that was the reason why he wanted a new one.

The wife was leaning against the stone fountain at the center of the square, bleeding lightly from an arm she hugged fiercely with her other hand. She was shivering and Sam could not decide if it was because of the rain, the pain of her injury, or simply fear of what would happen to her if Daniel lost. Sam noticed that she was at least sixty years old and that she seemed tired and defeated.

Some meters away, Daniel was doing fine. He was certainly making use of what he had learned at the SGC. In spite of not being armed and having to face a large man wielding a knife, he was standing his ground. Sam felt proud of his achievement. If only Jack could see him then. After a few minutes, Daniel had forced the man to let his knife go and the fight had become fairer. Five minutes more and Daniel had his opponent down on the muddy ground under a tight lock. When the man stopped resisting him, Daniel let him go and stood up. He then walked to the fountain and leaned to check on the old woman. As Sam watched in astonishment, one of the villagers threw a knife to Ludius and he quickly stood up and ran towards Daniel aiming the weapon at him. Sam yelled at her friend, but it was too late. Ludius plunged the blade twice into Daniel's back before he could even try to defend himself. Teal'c, who had respected the ring formed around the fighters, pushed his way to the center, decided to help his teammate, but it was not necessary anymore. Daniel had turned and skillfully kicked his attacker, who tripped and fell on his own knife.

As Ludius lay dead on the ground, Teal'c picked up the injured Daniel in his arms and carried him towards their small house, closely followed by Sam. She noticed that Daniel was bleeding profusely from his injuries and rushed to check up on them as soon as Teal'c entered the house with him. Her first immediate concern, after impeding more blood loss, was the amount of mud that Daniel had gotten on himself during the fight. She had to clean the wounds fast to avoid an infection. As Daniel sat in a chair and Sam helped him get rid of the bloody shirt, Teal'c prepared a bath for his friend. There was no time for heating up the water, but Daniel did not complain as Teal'c helped him into it. He was out soon and Sam finished washing his hair in a big pot. Then she made him lie on his bed and examined the injuries more closely.

"I'll have to stitch these, Daniel, or they won't heal properly. We only have one shot of sedatives and I'm going to give it to you now to be able to do that. Later, you'll have to make do with aspirins until we contact Cam again and we get some of the medicines from his pack."

Daniel agreed and Sam carefully took care of his wounds with Teal'c's help. After they were finished they left Daniel sleeping and went to the adjoining room to talk about the afternoon's events.

Almost three hours later, while the rain was hitting the town even harder, someone knocked loudly at their door. Teal'c opened it and one the elders of the village came in accompanied by the widow of Ludius while a large group of villagers gathered in their small porch. The old woman seemed afraid and uncomfortable.

"We're here to perform the ceremony. You've had enough time to get him ready."

"I'm sorry," Sam said. "I'm afraid we don't know what you're talking about."

"Your friend, the young one, he fought Ludius for his wife and he won. She's his now. We can marry them now and that way she can stay with you from now on," the elder explained.

"You don't understand," Sam tried. "Daniel didn't fight to get this lady for himself. He just wanted to save her life."

"The law is clear. A man fights another to get his wife, it's a fair fight, but if he just killed him to satisfy his bloodthirsty desires, then-"

"Daniel has no bloodthirsty desires!" Sam almost yelled with indignation. "He's a peaceful man."

"I wouldn't say so after I saw him fighting today. He's a soldier, a well trained soldier."

"DanielJackson is not a soldier," Teal'c intervened. "His job is to study the cultures we encounter in our trips. He has been trained only to defend himself."

The elder looked at him with disbelief in his eyes and then turned back to Sam. "In any case, he fought with Ludius and killed him-"

"If he hadn't attacked Daniel when his back was turned, as only a coward would, Ludius would be alive now. Daniel didn't kill him, he just defended himself."

"The law is clear. He fought for the possession of the woman or he's a murderous criminal who deserves the penalty the law provides."

"What penalty?" Sam asked alarmed.

"Death, of course," the elder answered.

Sam paled and tried again. "Daniel is not a criminal. He's an unselfish man who fought to save this woman. You should be grateful."

"That has never happened before. Who would risk his life for a woman, especially if she's not his?"

Sam felt an intolerable desire to hit the man in the face and noticed Teal'c's intense self-control. "A generous man like Daniel."

"Only a married man has the right to liberate another woman after her husband has renounced her without claiming the woman for himself. Your Daniel is not married, so-"

"Yes, he is," Sam quickly answered.

"What is he doing here without his wife? That doesn't speak of a man capable of what you say he did."

"He's married to me. I'm here with him, so there's no need for him to marry anyone else and this lady here is free to go," Sam stated.

"If that's true, Ardia can keep Ludius house with all their belongings," the elder started saying, but another man approached him and whispered something to him. "That's true. We have no proof that you two are married. You haven't mentioned it in all the time you've spent with us and you don't behave as a married couple."

"We've been together for too long," Sam said.

"How long?" the elder asked.

"Almost ten years," she answered.

The old man turned around and talked to the other men. Then he looked back at Sam and Teal'c. "We need more proof. We will witness your union."

"Excuse me?"

"We'll witness your union. That would be proof enough of your marriage."

"What do you mean by our union?"

"The physical joining of the two of you."

Teal'c intervened. "It is not our custom to share the moment of the physical blending with a group of strangers." Sam nodded in agreement.

The elder consulted the others again and then said, "Ardia and I will remain. The others will leave, but we won't accept your word without such proof. If you're really his wife you won't have a problem performing the union and Ardia here will be free for the rest of her life."

"DanielJackson was severely injured and he is resting at this time," Teal'c said.

"All right. We'll give you half an hour to get ready. Ardia and I will be back by then."

After that, the elder and the woman left and Teal'c closed the door behind them. Sam sat on a chair and sighed. "What are we going to do? What are we going to tell Daniel?"

"We must tell him the truth and allow him to choose."

"You know what he'll choose. He'll agree to be killed before hurting me in any way."

"A physical union is not hurtful," Teal'c said very seriously.

Sam smiled. "I know, Teal'c. It's just that Daniel will see it that way because we're not really a couple. In our society, making love is a sign of love, of commitment and devotion."

"You mean there is not sex without love in your society?" Teal'c asked and Sam knew what he meant.

She smiled and sighed defeated. "You're right, Teal'c. There's sex without love, very often. I just don't think that Daniel would agree to that."

"There is love, commitment, and devotion between DanielJackson and you, Samantha. It may be a different kind of love than the one you were talking about, but it is strong enough to go through one physical joining."

"You know, Teal'c, you're right again. We just don't have to give him the option to say no." She got up and went to the other room. She woke up Daniel and gave him an aspirin for the pain. Then she sat by his side and explained the situation to him. Daniel completely refused her proposition and affirmed that he would try to convince the villagers of his intentions when he stopped Ludius. Sam kindly disagreed and told Daniel that the decision had been made and that the witnesses would be there soon.

"Sam, I can't do that. It's rape, no matter how you look at it. I'm not going to do that to you, not even to save my life."

"There's no rape if I'm consenting to it. Daniel, I couldn't live with myself if something happened to you just because we didn't do this. Besides, we have a mission to accomplish and Earth is depending on us."

"As well as many other worlds," Teal'c added.

"You saved a life today, now we're going to save yours," Sam concluded and left no room for further discussion.

Later that night, Sam heard Teal'c close the door after their guests. He remained in the other room and Sam understood that he was trying to give them some privacy.

"Daniel, I need to check your injuries," she said. "I noticed that you were in pain a while ago and I don't want the wounds to start bleeding again." Daniel turned on his side and allowed her to see his back. Sam soon re-bandaged him and as she helped him lie down again, she saw tears coming out of his tightly closed eyes. She got in bed by his side and put her head on his chest. "Daniel, I want you to listen to me, all right?" Daniel nodded softly. "When we were in Kelowna and you stopped that explosion, you gave your life for us and for its people. You didn't hesitate even though you knew you'd die. Just think of how many times you offered your life trying to save someone else's. To name one, I'll say the Enkarans and the Gadmeer, but I could keep on going for a long time. What I did tonight with you can't compare with what you've done. It didn't even hurt," she smiled nervously. "It actually felt very good, natural, right, in spite of the witnesses. I just forgot they were there behind us and I concentrated on you, my friend, someone so close to my heart as no one else has ever been. It wasn't bad making love with you because I felt the love coming from you. I knew your wounds were hurting badly, but you put so much care and tenderness in it that I'm sure the elder was convinced we had been doing this for all our lives."

"Did you really feel that way?" he asked softly.

"Yes," Sam said emphatically.

"I felt it, too. I wanted it to be more than sex, Sam. I wanted to let you know how much I love you and how much I appreciate you doing this to save my life. I'd like to remember this night as a good night, as the night when we made love in spite of all the hate we witnessed during the day."

"I want that, too. Please, promise me you'll never regret what we did tonight."

"I promise you."

Sam went to sleep right there by Daniel's side. She felt his love and she felt safe by him. The rhythmic beating of his heart made music with the rain pounding on the roof. They would be fine; she knew it.

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Any comments? Please, take a minute and give your opinion. It is very important for me to know what the readers think in order to decide how to continue a story or write the next one, or, if there is no interest, stop posting it here.


	4. Chapter 4

**A Different Kind of Pain** by Betty Bokor  
Sam/Daniel. Sam experiences a difficult loss.  
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9 and 10.  
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

**A Different Kind of Pain**

**Chapter 4**

"Hey, you promised me another talk," Sam said as Daniel opened the door of his house.

"Come in, I'm making breakfast. Have you already eaten?"

"No, not really. I didn't really think about it, but now that you say it, it's pretty early and I should have waited until later to come."

"Nonsense. You're here. Let's have breakfast together."

Sam followed Daniel to the kitchen and helped him finish cooking the meal. Later they sat together and ate in silence for a while.

Suddenly Sam said, "I dreamt about that night in the village last night."

Daniel grimaced and said, "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be. It wasn't a nightmare. It was like re-living it, very detailed, just as it happened. Maybe it was the sound of the rain on the window that prompted it, but it felt real."

Daniel made another gesture of discomfort. "I hope it doesn't start happening every time it rains."

"Don't worry about me. I just woke up after the dream and I remembered it very clearly. I hadn't thought much about that these last months."

"That's understandable," Daniel replied.

"You don't understand, Daniel. You promised me not to regret that night-"

"I don't regret it. I just don't want it to keep hurting you."

"It has never hurt me, but that's not the point. I wanted to tell you something else that I remembered today." Daniel kept quiet and she continued. "When Carolyn told me about the miscarriage, she said the father should probably be informed and I answered that I wasn't sure because the baby had come out off an act of desperation more than anything else." Daniel lowered his head, but Sam caught a glimpse of his pain before he did. "Wait, Daniel, wait. I told you I've been thinking about all this since I woke up from the dream and I realized that our baby was born out off the love that you and I share." She stretched her hand and reached Daniel's chin to make him lift his head. She immediately noticed that there were tears in his eyes. "I mean it, Daniel, it was out off love and I would have loved him with the same intensity."

Daniel tried a small smile and whispered. "Thank you."

"But it's also true that I was desperate. I was terrified of losing you. I would have even made you marry that lady if there had been no other way to avoid you being executed," she smiled, "but I'm glad we found another solution." She stopped and sighed. "What I know now is that if I ever have another baby it has to be because of a love like ours, but of the romantic kind," she smiled nervously again, "and I've decided that I'll go back to the only man who has loved me that way and proved it to me."

"Who?" Daniel managed to ask feeling suddenly scared.

"Pete."

"Pete? Why would you go back to Pete?" Daniel asked without hiding his surprise.

"You know he loved me," she said defensively.

"He also stalked you and pushed you too hard."

"He didn't really stalk me!" Sam said raising her voice. "He's a cop and he couldn't stand not knowing what my job was. He was just curious and he had the ability to find out. When we found you with Teal'c's friend you weren't mad that he was helping us."

"The day you accepted his proposal while I was lying zatted on the floor?" Daniel said and he felt guilty about it a second after he did. He closed his eyes and he apologized. "I'm sorry. I should have never said anything like that."

"If that's how you felt-"

"No. That was unfair. You were just trying to be happy. You deserve to be happy more than anyone else I know. I will support you in any decision you make. If Pete is your choice, I'll be there for you both. I was just being selfish."

"Selfish? What do you mean selfish?"

Daniel hesitated for a second, afraid of having said too much. He thought of a way to fix what he had started. "I was afraid that if you married Pete, I'd lose my best friend. If you had married him, we wouldn't be even having this conversation. You'd be home with him, probably bathing a child, I don't know, or making breakfast for all of you. Like a family. That's what you need and if Pete can give it to you, you have to take the chance. I'll get used to not spending time with you like we do now, but it would be for a very good reason." He made a big effort and smiled at her.

"Yes, that's what I want, my family. That doesn't mean I won't be your friend anymore. We'll find other chances to do stuff together."

Daniel agreed, knowing that once Sam married, their time together would be reduced to whatever they did during a mission or at the SGC.

Later that day, after Sam had left, Daniel sat down in his favorite armchair and pondered over what he had discovered. He was not afraid of losing Sam's friendship. He was terrified of losing Sam.

During their conversation he had suddenly started hoping that Sam would choose him, that she would see that he was the one who could love her that much, not just as a friend, but as a partner, a lover, a husband. He was amazed by his sudden wish to marry Sam and ensure that she would not be anyone else's. He had been tempted to tell her the truth, but he had immediately seen its danger. If he told Sam and she did not feel that way –as it was clear to see considering that she was going to call Pete that night– he would endanger his friendship with her and friendship was far better than nothing.

He had also wanted to make Sam understand that that kind of love needed to be reciprocal and that she had already accepted that she did not love Pete that much. She even loved Jack more than she loved Pete, but Jack did not want to have babies, so Sam was going to settle for Pete.

If only he could make her see how much he loved her, but, then again, she would just be settling for him. His problem was that he could not stop thinking how deeply he had felt Sam's love the night of the rain in Barait. He had carefully avoided thinking about it when they were still there and he had successfully taken it out of his mind after their return to Earth. Now, he could not think of anything else. Sam had brought it all back.

He meditated on it for hours until he finally went to sleep, still early on the day, without having eaten anything since breakfast. After all, sleeping is one of the best ways to escape from suffering.

Sam got home ready to call Pete. It felt like an urge, an impulsive need to get it done. She threw her keys on the kitchen counter and sat down on a stool to be more comfortable during her call. The answering machine on the other side of the line swiftly cooled her resolve. She put the telephone back in its place and went to the bathroom to take a shower. After a few seconds she decided she was feeling more like taking a long warm bath and started filling the tub.

As she was lying in the water, she heard the rain hitting the skylight. Maybe Daniel was right and the whole episode would start coming back to her every time it rained. That could be inconvenient if she started dating Pete again. _"What's with you and the rain, Sam?" "Oh, nothing. It's just reminds me of making love with my best friend."_ She immediately chastised herself. That had been an act of love and she was transforming it into a sexual fantasy. The problem was that –best friend or not– Daniel had made her feel something completely different than whatever she had ever felt before with a man. It was probably due to the complexity of her relationship with Daniel. No matter for how long she dated Pete, or anyone else, she would never get to know him as deeply as she knew Daniel. Nobody would know her as well as he did, either.

For a while she thought about Jack. If Jack were to agree to have children, would she choose him over Pete? Instead of finding an answer to that question, she suddenly felt that it would not be fair to Jack if she asked him to make her feel like Daniel did. That jump in logic made her stop and reconsider. Jack was very attractive to her and they had a very close relationship, almost as close as with Daniel. Why wouldn't he make her feel the same way or better? She could not find an answer to that, other than he fact that it was not really important anymore.

That was a huge revelation. She got out of the water and got dressed in a hurry. As soon as she got into the SGC, she walked directly to Teal'c's quarters. She knew he was spending the weekend there to prepare for their next mission.

Teal'c did not act surprised to see her. He welcomed her and sat with her on the carpet, as it was his custom. She briefly explained to him what had happened since she had left the base the day before and she ended her account with a final revelation.

"I think I'm in love with him, Teal'c. What am I going to do?"

"You should tell DanielJackson of your feelings."

"No way. I'm not going to tell him."

"Why not?"

"It would hurt him to know what I feel because he doesn't share my feelings. He's always trying to make everyone happy and he'll feel obliged toward me."

"You assume he does not feel the same way."

"Oh, I know. He had no problem with me going back to Pete- Well, maybe, a little, because he thinks I don't love Pete enough, I told him so, and he also said he was being selfish-"

"Is not that an indication as to what his feelings are?" Teal'c insisted.

"No, no at all. He just didn't want to lose our friendship, nothing else." Teal'c expressed his doubt with a gesture, but Sam completely dismissed the idea. "I've been thinking something else. I thought that if I can't have Daniel, maybe he'd agree to father my baby. You two offered," she justified. "That way we'll always have something to keep us close, even if we never get beyond that."

"That would be dangerous. It would be using your child to be close to DanielJackson."

"That's unfair. You know I really wanted the baby, long before this happened. It would only make it more special."

"What would happen when DanielJackson finds another woman and starts his own family?"

"Nothing. I'm sure he would still care for our child."

"He would, but how would you feel about it? Jealousy can be very destructive."

"He'll someday have his own family anyway, whether he has a baby with me or not. This way, at least a part of him will always be with me."

"You are being selfish. You should talk frankly with Daniel."

"No way."

"You came out here to ask for my opinion, Samantha."

"And I really appreciate you listening to me, but I have to do this, I have to do it."

After Sam left, Teal'c sat down perplexed. He knew his friend acted impulsively in many occasions, but the new developments had him confused. What was the difficulty of honestly expressing feelings? The consequences would always be more desirable than what lies would bring.

Later that day, Daniel opened the door with a sleepy expression. "Sam? It's almost eleven," he added as he checked his watch and moved backwards to let her in.

"I changed my mind," she said as she came in.

"Okay," Daniel said, closing the front door and following her into his den.

Sam sat in the sofa and asked, "You weren't sleeping, were you? You're still dressed."

"It's okay. Don't worry. What happened? Did you talk to Pete?"

"I was going to, I even called, but he wasn't home. Then I suddenly realized that wasn't what I really wanted."

"I'm glad you decided that before talking to him," he said as he sat down in front of her.

"Yeah, I don't know how I would have explained it to him later."

"Good. Now, what have you decided?"

"I still want to have a baby and a family, but I can't make it happen just because it's what I want, so I'll settle for doing one thing at a time."

"What comes first?"

"The baby. I'm not twenty anymore. The longer I wait, the riskier it gets."

"That sounds logical. What are you going to do? Have you decided on the sperm banks? I can help you research which one would be better. I'm sure Carolyn Lam could give us an expert opinion-"

"No."

"No? No what?"

"No, I don't want an anonymous donor."

"Okay," Daniel said with a doubtful tone. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm going to ask someone to be the father of my baby."

"All right. Have you decided who that someone is going to be?" Daniel asked and waited for the response in fear, expecting Jack's name to come out of her mouth.

"Yes, I have. I know Teal'c and you offered, but-"

"But you've chosen someone else."

"But I don't want to get in the way between Teal'c and Ishta. You're still single and don't have a girlfriend yet, so maybe-"

Daniel almost stopped breathing. "You're asking me to father your baby?"

"If you don't mind, as you said before. I don't want to mess up anything. If you think it would become too complicated between us, just forget it."

"No, no, Sam. That would be an honor. Teal'c and I were sincere when we offered to be the father. I understand why you don't want to ask Teal'c and I'm willing to do it myself. Don't worry about it anymore."

Sam looked relieved. "Great. Thank you. You have no idea how important this is to me."

"I think I do."

"Well, you said it. It's late. I'll let you go back to bed," she said with a smile. "Next week I'll talk to Carolyn and we'll set everything up for when the time is right." She stood up and Daniel did, too. She walked towards him and hugged him. "Thank you, Daniel." A minute later she was gone.

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Any comments? Please, take a minute and give your opinion. It is very important for me to know what the readers think in order to decide how to continue a story or write the next one, or, if there is no interest, stop posting it here.


	5. Chapter 5

**A Different Kind of Pain** by Betty Bokor  
Sam/Daniel. Sam experiences a difficult loss.  
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9 and 10.  
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

**A Different Kind of Pain**

**Chapter 5**

The following days were chaotic. The mission SG-1 was assigned was hard and it took a whole week to accomplish it. When they finally made it back, Daniel was exhausted. He was putting everything in order in his office to leave for the couple of days of stand-down they had been given, when Sam came by with a shy smile.

"Hey, are you going home?"

"Yep, I'm dead."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. I won't take long. I talked to Carolyn last Monday and she's been keeping track for me, and she thinks we could have a chance at conceiving next weekend," she said in a very low voice.

"So soon?" Daniel asked feeling suddenly terrified.

"Well, I've been off the contraceptives for a while. I signed a release form to clear the SGC of responsibility if something happened to me because of my refusal."

"I didn't know."

"I just couldn't take them after the miscarriage. It felt wrong."

"That's fine, Sam. If this is the weekend, we'll do it. I think we'd better get together in the next couple of days and plan it better. Maybe Carolyn can be more specific."

"Sure, I'll talk to her before I leave today. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yep."

As soon as Sam left the office, Daniel sat down and tried to keep from panicking. They had not talked about the details with Sam and for a while he had thought she would go for an in-vitro fertilization, but now he knew she was thinking of a more traditional way. She would not need him at the right time and day for any other reason. The prospect of a weekend of steady sex with Sam scared him. He kept thinking that was probably the best way to achieve a positive result. With Sha're it had been a matter of "_if it happens, fine; if it doesn't, it will be some other day"_ and there had been no pressure. Sam wanted to get pregnant as soon as possible and she would keep trying until she got it.

It was not the sex itself that scared him; it was the risk of letting Sam know of his real feelings for her. He did not want her to feel obliged to him in any other way.

The night of the rains he had not known yet what he really felt for Sam. His denial had been still strong by then. Because of that, all the love he had put in their lovemaking had been uninterested, it had been a way of giving back to Sam for such a sacrifice. Now, it would be much more difficult.

How could he be detached –if that was what Sam wanted– if what _he_ wanted was to worship her and make her aware of what they could both have if she shared his feelings?

He got up and left the office trying to figure out a way to fix the problem before the weekend.

Sam, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to what would happen with Daniel. She was focused on having Daniel's baby. She sat down for a while with Carolyn as the doctor advised her of the best way to conceive.

"I'd say you both should take a couple of days off your jobs. I mean, the father and you. Friday would be a good day to start, before you ovulate. The weekend would be perfect and Monday is another chance. After that, it will be harder, but there are still some possibilities."

"How often do we have to have intercourse?" Sam wanted to know.

"Obviously, the more you do it, the more likelihood there is of getting pregnant, but if you do it too often, it could lower the sperm count of the donor and decrease your chances. Semen without sperm would not help," she smiled. "Some doctors even recommend to do it every other day or no more than every thirty-six hours, but it would all depend on your partner, his physical condition, his health, his usual sperm count..." Carolyn stopped to see if Sam wanted to say anything about the future father of her child, but Sam remained quiet and the doctor continued. "Remember to lay on your back and to place a pillow, not too big, under your hips during and after intercourse so that the sperm doesn't have to swim against gravity." Carolyn smiled when she noticed Sam had started taking notes. "There isn't too much left to tell you, Sam."

"I just want to get it right, to increase the chances. I don't know what will happen next month."

Carolyn thought that was a curious statement, but considering the crazy life the SGC members lived, she did not say anything. "About the time of the day, the morning is better because the semen has the highest count of sperm at that time. Do not use any sprays or scented deodorants; chemicals do not make a friendly environment for sperm. Ask your boyfriend to avoid using tight underwear and, finally, try to lie down on your back for at least twenty or thirty minutes afterwards. It might help."

Sam felt confident that she would be successful. Daniel was in great physical shape by then and she was, too.

Daniel was just worried about _their _interaction, but in spite of all his apprehension, he survived the weekend and did not damage his relationship with Sam. Each time they had intercourse Daniel was very careful to feel it as making love, because he wanted to be able to talk to his child one day and speak of the love that had brought him to this world, at least on his side. Keeping his eyes closed he had tried to maintain Sam unaware of the depth of his feelings; he had been very afraid that she would see the love in his eyes and pity him for his foolishness.

A couple of weeks later he found out they had succeeded and that Sam was indeed pregnant. What most surprised him in the following days was the discovery that Sam had not revealed the identity of the father of her child to anyone except Teal'c. Not even Carolyn Lam was aware and –unless she checked the baby's DNA against the SGC population– she was not bound to find out. Sam insisted in doing all her medical visits on her own and taking care of everything related to the pregnancy. It deeply hurt Daniel.

In the second month of the pregnancy, Sam started having problems. Frequent pain and some light spotting soon sent her home to bed rest. She refused to allow Carolyn to call anyone and she spent the beginning of her first homebound day crying in fear that another miscarriage would take her baby again. By midday she was surprised to hear someone opening the front door. She was about to reach for her weapon, when she heard Daniel calling her name. She got up from the sofa and walked toward him. He was carrying a big duffel bag and many folders and files.

"Daniel?" she asked.

"I'm moving in. If it's free, I'll take your guestroom. If not, I'll sleep on the couch. I don't care." He walked toward the staircase and added, "Go back to bed. You shouldn't be walking around."

"Daniel, what's going on? What do you mean you're moving in?"

Daniel turned around and Sam could see that he was upset. "Listen to me, Sam. You may not want anyone to know that I'm the father of your baby, but that doesn't change the fact that I am. I care as much as you do about whether the baby lives or not. I'll do anything I have to do to ensure the best conditions for a positive result. Now, your part is to stay in bed and rest. I'll take care of everything else. You can justify it as me just being your friend." He turned around again and went to check the guestroom. Sam slowly walked to her room and lay on the bed. She was stunned.

Daniel had always fought for what he thought was right, but today there had not even been a _fight._ He had made the decisions for her, for both of them, and acted upon them. She had noticed that he had become more assertive in the last years and in many of their last missions she had felt he was as much in command as Cameron –sometimes even more– but he had always been very careful to allow her to make all the decisions about their relationship. He always asked before taking any initiative to be certain that he was not stepping over any boundary or making Sam uncomfortable. Even their lovemaking had been that way. The Daniel who was by now in her kitchen, moving pots and pans around, was very different. And she liked him even more.

For three weeks Sam rested and Daniel did everything else. He took a leave from SG-1 and worked as much as he could from Sam's home. Due to the classified nature of most of his job he had to leave Sam almost daily to spend time at the base, but he did not miss one meal with her. Sam was used to Daniel working restlessly, but it worried her that some days he seemed near exhaustion. More than anything it worried her that in spite of his constant polite smile, Daniel looked extremely sad.

When finally the pregnancy prognosis improved, Sam was allowed to go back to work for half a day every day. Daniel was immediately put back on SG-1 and she had not been back home from her first day of work, when he was sent off-world with Cam, Teal'c, and Vala.

Sam went back home after lunch and felt the house was desolate. She was so used to having Daniel around that she had not even considered what would happen when her condition improved, or after the baby was born, for that matter. At dinnertime she sat alone in the kitchen and ate one of the meals Daniel had left ready in the fridge for her. She was lost in thought when her bell rang. She walked slowly to the door and was surprised to find Jack O'Neill looking at her with a small smile.

"Sir?"

"Good to see you, too, Carter," he said as he came into the house.

"Oh, it's good to see you, sir. I'm just surprised because I didn't know you were in town." She walked toward the kitchen and Jack followed her.

"Well, I knew you'd been under the weather and Hank and I needed to discuss a couple of things, and I was missing the mountain…"

"Yeah, I know. I missed it terribly when I was in Nevada," Sam said as she indicated a chair at the kitchen table for him. "Would you like to try some of this? It's lemon chicken. Daniel fixed it. It's pretty good."

"How's the Spacemonkey doing lately? He's hard to find," Jack said as Sam served him a plate of chicken.

"Well, he's off-world now."

"I heard some interesting news when I was at the base."

"You did? You already knew about my baby, so I don't know what it could have been. I haven't been there much lately. I worked from home for the last weeks."

"Oh, I know. That was one of the first things they told me as soon as I got to the base."

"They told you? Who?"

"People, just people around the base."

"I see. What else did they tell you?"

"Well, I was surprised when they told me Danny-boy was living here with you."

"He has been great help. I don't know what I would have done without him," Sam said very calmly, even though she was feeling upset. "I don't know how he managed to take care of everything here and to keep up with all his work."

"There's a betting pool," Jack added casually without replying to Sam's remark.

"About what?"

"About the father of your baby," Jack said and Sam was stunned that his face did not fall after that.

"Really?" she said feeling even more upset. "And why is that the business of anyone at the base?"

"They're not trying to intrude; it's just normal human curiosity."

"And you're curious, too, aren't you, sir?"

"Well, Carter. Some people were surprised that you hadn't confided in us."

"Us who?"

"Your teammates, your friends."

Sam felt that Jack was hurt because she had not confided _in him_. She should have known better than to keep him out of the loop. "I'm sorry, sir. This isn't the kind of thing you discuss over the phone." She stopped eating and sighed. "The truth is I thought much about it before making the decision. Daniel had suggested I use a sperm bank, but it didn't feel right, so I accepted the offer Daniel and Teal'c had made to be the donors."

"Daniel and Teal'c both?"

"They both offered, but I took Daniel's, because Teal'c is with Ishta now and I didn't want to create any problems."

"So Danny's the father. The odds are in his favor anyway," Jack said looking at his plate.

"They are?"

"Well, he was the father of your first child-"

"Not many people know about that."

"But everybody knows that he's been living with you, Carter."

"He's been living in my house, in the guestroom, that's all. He moved in to be able to help. Some days I think that Teal'c would have moved in, too, if it weren't for Ishta."

"You mean Daniel and you aren't going to raise the kid together as a family? He's not going to marry you?"

Sam kept quiet for a minute, looking at Jack. She had been so enthralled by the fact that she was finally pregnant that she had not stopped to think about that part of the future. Actually, she had carefully avoided it. "Well, no, but Daniel is going to be part of his or her life, of course."

"That sounds difficult if nobody knows that he's the father. What's the child going to call him? _Uncle Daniel_?"

Sam was shocked. She had not thought about that at all. It was amazing that she could have avoided planning such an important aspect of her relationship with Daniel. Maybe that was what had made him sad or upset lately. He had not said a word, but now it seemed logical. Sam shook her head in disbelief.

"Carter? I thought I lost you there for a moment."

"Sorry, sir. I was thinking on what you said. I just didn't want to make trouble for him at the SGC. I didn't want Landry to think that Daniel was in a relationship with a teammate and get him in trouble," Sam said.

"You're not his teammate anymore, Carter, and he's a civilian. Fraternization rules do not strictly apply to him. Are you sure that's why you've kept it so quiet?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't mean anything; I just think it's strange that you're going around radiant with happiness because of the baby and you're keeping Daniel out of it. He might feel like sharing in the glee. Unless it was his decision to keep it a secret."

"No, it was- We-" she paused and then added, "I didn't even ask him what he wanted to do."

"Knowing Daniel, he would have never told you if that wasn't what he wanted."

"Oh, my God, you're right!"

Sam seemed so upset that Jack changed the subject and just kept her company for a while. After he left, Sam lay in bed and thought how she was going to handle the issue when Daniel came back. She was going to let him choose, she finally decided.

Two days later Cameron and Vala came back alone from their mission. Teal'c and Daniel had disappeared during one of the attacks they had endured and, in spite of all their efforts, they had not been found. New missions were sent to find out what had happened to them, but to no avail.

For the first week, Sam did all right. She kept her hopes up that Daniel and Teal'c would soon be found. After three failed rescue missions, she started to fear they had been killed. The stress of the situation did not help her pregnancy and the problems resurfaced. She was sent home again, but this time there was no Daniel to take care of her. She hired different people to help her, but none lasted. She felt uncomfortable having anyone in her house and she hated having to depend on others for almost everything.

It had been so different with Daniel; she had just felt he belonged there by her side. She had hidden her feelings for him very carefully and they had shared innumerable moments of intense friendship.

Since Jack had brought it up, Sam had started trying to remember every time she had talked with Daniel about the future of the baby. She finally concluded that on each occasion Daniel had made comments that excluded him from being part of the life of the child in any meaningful way. She recalled phrases such as "_When you take him or her to school"_ or "_the first time he brings a friend to your house"_, just an example of how carefully he had made a point of showing that he had not been invited to be part of that life, and she had never noticed or tried to tell him different. She had been so intent on keeping him from knowing that she wanted him in _her _life, that she had let him believe that she did not want him in their child's life. He surely was hurting because of it, if he was still alive. That last thought got her crying every time.

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Any comments? Please, take a minute and give your opinion. It is very important for me to know what the readers think in order to decide how to continue a story or write the next one, or, if there is no interest, stop posting it here.


	6. Chapter 6

**A Different Kind of Pain** by Betty Bokor  
Sam/Daniel. Sam experiences a difficult loss.  
Spoilers: All seasons, including 9 and 10.  
Disclaimer: The Stargate original characters belong to MGM/Showtime, Double Secret Productions, and Gekko Film Corp. This was written strictly for the purpose of entertainment. No attempt at copyright infringement has been made.

**A Different Kind of Pain**

**Chapter 6**

Daniel and Teal'c had spent almost a month living in a jungle, in constant danger, with no shelter and scarce food. Because they did not know the different species of plants and trees from the planet where they had been trapped, many times they ended up sick after eating some of their fruits. One of these days, they could die of poisoning.

They were both exhausted, but still not ready to give up. They had been chased for a long time, but now they were sure their enemies had lost their tracks. The problem was they did not know how to go back to the gate. They were trying to reach high ground to try and spot anything they could recognize that could put them in the right track. Teal'c was confident that he had memorized enough data about their journey to be able to undo it in a way that could keep them from being captured, but he still needed some reference points to confirm his belief.

One hot afternoon they decided to stop and take a break. They chose a place far from the numerous sources of water because the risk of being spotted increased in those areas. They sat under a tree and cleared a small area around their position to be able to stretch a little. The forest was so dense at times that even the shortest advance required tremendous effort. However, the chances of their enemies venturing into the dangerous jungle were small.

"Let me check that cut in your arm, Teal'c," Daniel said as he sat down and opened his backpack.

"I am not in need of assistance," his teammate answered as he sat by his side.

"That's fine, but I'd feel better if I see that there's no infection."

Teal'c relented and allowed Daniel to undo the bandage. "As I told you, DanielJackson, my injury is doing well."

"Well, better safe than sorry," his friend added and re-bandaged the cut.

"You have many scrapes and bruises, too. You should tend to your injuries as well."

"There's nothing really bad," Daniel said as he checked his arms. "It's hard not to get hurt in this place. Too crowded for my taste." He got one of the fruits that they had collected earlier during the day and ate it, taking great pleasure at savoring it. "Hmm… At least this one doesn't taste bad and it hasn't killed us yet. We should pick up some more."

"Indeed," Teal'c agreed as he ate some and reached for his canteen.

"I wonder how Sam is doing with her pregnancy." Daniel suddenly said. "I hope she hasn't had any more trouble. I hate to think that, with both of us out here, there are not many other people who could help her."

"You have not talked about ColonelCarter much during this time we have spent here," Teal'c observed.

"What's to talk about?"

"She is carrying your child."

"She's carrying her child. She has not made me a part of that."

"You were living with her until we left on this mission."

"You know better than anyone that I was there just to help. We were not a couple expecting a child. Sam was pregnant and I was helping her. I would have done the same even if the baby hadn't been mine."

"You do not intend to be part of the life of your child?"

"I will be there as much as Sam allows me. When she asked me to father her child she didn't promise me anything. Nobody else but you knows that I'm the father. What am I supposed to do? If she doesn't want it to be known, there's not much I can do without jeopardizing her secret."

"Have you thought about asking SamanthaCarter to marry you?"

Daniel stopped chewing the fruit he had just ingested and gazed at his teammate with an astonished look. He then swallowed quickly and said very seriously, "I think this fruit isn't good after all. It's affecting your mind, my friend."

"I believed it was customary in your society for a reasonable man to ask the mother of his children to marry him. ColonelCarter and you could find happiness together."

"That would be true if Sam and I were in love, if we had conceived the children out off that love, and we wanted to raise a family together. You know this isn't the case."

"You do not love Samantha?"

"I do, just not- Ah, Teal'c, the truth is I do. I love her and I would do anything to make her and the baby my family, but she doesn't, so it won't work."

"She does," Teal'c said very succinctly.

"She does? What do you mean _she does_?"

"She acknowledged to me that she had fallen in love with you."

Daniel straightened and looked more surprised than before. "When? Are you serious?"

Teal'c looked offended. "I have not yet mastered the ability to joke about important matters. I speak only the truth. Before she asked you to father her child, she sought my advice and I suggested she tell you of her feelings."

"Why didn't she?"

"She believed that to be aware of her feelings would burden you if you did not share them. As I know you _do_ share them, I consider it pointless to keep hiding her feelings from you."

Daniel was speechless. In a second he imagined how everything could have been different if either Sam or he had told the truth to the other. Teal'c remained silent and let him assimilate the new information. He had difficulty understanding why humans felt a need to complicate their lives by masquerading their feelings and avoiding being honest about them. He was convinced that knowing of Sam's feelings was going to help Daniel make a better decision toward his relationship with her.

After a little while, Daniel said, "We should keep going."

Teal'c only replied, "Indeed," and they both picked up their packs and started walking again.

Sam was almost five months pregnant and still Daniel and Teal'c had not been found. As long as they did not find their bodies, she was determined to believe they were still alive somewhere. She could not afford to think she had lost them; she needed to keep herself strong for the baby. The idea that Daniel could be dead again scared her more than anything she could think of, except for losing his baby.

During the second trimester, the pregnancy had improved its odds and she had been able to go back to work. That had been a great help because it had allowed her to keep her mind occupied by the job and not dwell all day long about the current situation. She concentrated her thoughts on deciding how to handle her relationship _when_ he came back. She was not ready to change the '_when'_ for an_ 'if'_. He had to come back.

After careful deliberation, she had arrived to the conclusion that Teal'c had been right. She needed to tell Daniel about her feelings for him and face the consequences. Perhaps he would be willing to give their relationship a try. In any case, she had nothing to lose, because he was too sensible a man to use her feelings against her.

One afternoon, after finishing her job in the lab, she walked to General Landry's office and requested to talk to him. She finally revealed to him that Daniel was the father of her baby and the circumstances in which the baby had been conceived. She also added that she had changed her mind and that she was ready to pursue a relationship with her former teammate.

Landry was surprised by the confidence Sam had that Daniel and Teal'c would be back sooner or later. He had long before lost any hope of ever finding them, but he was aware of the SG-1 extraordinary record of coming back against the most improbable odds, especially Daniel. He expressed to her that he hoped her friends returned and told her that if it happened, he would not oppose her relationship with the father of the baby. Sam felt relieved and that day she went home with more hope in her heart.

Eight days later, the normal functioning of the SGC was interrupted by an unscheduled wormhole activation. Landry rushed to the control center to find out what was going on. Walter Harriman promptly informed him that he was receiving a GDO signal, but that it was one that had been replaced a while before. They checked and discovered that it was an old SG-1 signal. Cam, who had already joined Landry in the control room, immediately suggested that it could be Daniel and Teal'c, since that one had been the signal in use at the time they had disappeared. Before opening the shield, Landry sent a message asking for confirmation of the identity of those requesting entry to the SGC.

Sam entered the room just in time to hear Daniel's voice replying to Landry's message. He briefly explained how they had been hunted by their enemies and how they had finally been able to return to the gate. He also added that they were still in possession of the artifact that they had been originally sent to retrieve when the mission of SG-1 had been planned.

Sam smiled broadly. She was not only tremendously happy that her friends were back, but she was also feeling very proud of both of them. Teal'c had always been an exceptional soldier, but Daniel had learned those skills over the years they had spent in SG-1. She was certain that, in spite of Jack's belief that every bit of tactical advice he had given to Daniel had fallen on deaf ears, all those teachings had been carefully assimilated and adapted to suit Daniel's personality. He was still not a soldier; he would not allow himself to become one, but he could accomplish any mission as well as the best of them.

"How's everybody?" Daniel was asking. "Did Cam and Vala come back before us? How's Sam doing?"

"Everybody is okay, son," Landry replied. "We're opening the shield right now. Come back home."

A moment later the two teammates stepped through the gate. They look tired and it was easy to see the hard circumstances they had been living under for the last months.

As protocol demanded, Landry was the first to speak at the foot of the ramp. "Welcome back," he said as the aides helped Daniel and Teal'c with their weapons and packs and the artifact they were carefully carrying. "We know how exhausted you must be, but I'll ask for one stop at the Infirmary first. Then you can have some sleep. We'll debrief in five hours."

Cam welcomed them back and congratulated them on the result of their part of the mission. Sam hugged first Teal'c, who was closer to her, and then Daniel.

As she was holding him, she whispered in his ear, "I missed you."

Daniel broke the hug enough to look in her eyes and repeated, "I missed you, too." He then held her face with his hand and softly kissed her lips in front of everybody. "Let's get everything done soon so that we can go home earlier," he added as he turned and held her hand, ready to walk out of the gateroom. He then looked at Landry and said, "General, I'm sure Teal'c would agree with me that the first thing we need is a shower. We can be at the infirmary soon afterwards and debrief right after we're discharged. What we both really want is to just go home."

Landry was surprised. Daniel was usually stubborn and he knew exactly what he wanted, but he did not normally object to his house keeping orders. Nevertheless, he could see the validity of his point and he had also seen Teal'c's gesture of agreement. "That's fine with me. I'll see you after your physical exam."

Daniel smiled and walked out still holding Sam's hand. Cam and Teal'c followed closely.

Sam kept quiet as they walked through the hallways of the SGC. Many people came out of their offices to welcome the two lost members of SG-1. Sam noticed the numerous looks that were sharply directed to her hand in Daniel's hand, but did not lose her serious attitude. She was actually feeling in the mood for smiling at everybody or even singing, but she remained quiet and collected. She was not certain what had prompted Daniel's attitude, but she was not about to stop him. They would have time later for an honest talk; at the moment she was simply enjoying the feeling of belonging. In a way, her mind kept telling her, it felt as if Daniel were marking his territory, signaling to all the males on base that this was his woman –and his baby– and that they should keep their distance from them. It sounded primitive and unscientific, but she was enjoying it anyway.

When Teal'c and Daniel left Sam and Cam to get their showers, Cam approached Sam and asked, "What's with the kiss and the hands?"

Sam smiled and briefly explained how things had been until SG-1 left on its last mission and then added. "It looks like we both wanted the same, but we weren't honest with each other. I know everybody thinks that Daniel is always hiding behind words, but he actually does what he thinks has to be done, even without words, when he sees the need."

"Oh, I've noticed," Cam said with a smile "Believe me; I've noticed. O'Neill warned me that it was hard to make him change his mind when he thought he was doing the right thing, but I didn't anticipate that he was so stubborn and that, ultimately, he would fight with his life for what he believed in."

"Yep, that's Daniel," Sam said smiling, too.

When finally all the tests were done to confirm that Daniel and Teal'c were the same ones who had left the base months ago and that they were in good health, they were sent to the debriefing room to meet Landry and the others. The general felt tempted to talk to Daniel about the little scene in the gateroom because since then the peace of the base had been altered by the constant running of personnel passing the story from one to another. He was about to say something when he looked over at the man sitting at his left, completely unaware of his surroundings, as he quietly discussed his notes with Teal'c. In spite of the change that the shower and the shaving had made in his appearance, he still seemed exhausted. The memory of hundreds of pages of reports about the heroic deeds of this man and his colleagues ran through the general's mind. He suddenly felt he had no right to scold him for any reason. The man had even given his life –more than once– for their common cause and yet he was still there, keeping up the fight. Jack was long gone, sitting comfortably in an office at the Pentagon. Sam was out of the actual battle, too, for the sake of her baby. Cameron was too new and he had much to learn. However, Teal'c and Daniel still remained in their combat positions and some day they would be known by the whole world as the legends they deserved to be. For a second he wished he had met Daniel before, when George Hammond had met him, when he was still unspoiled by so much ruin and desperation. The old general had a deep affection for the archeologist and, in his short time running the SGC, Landry had rapidly learned why. He put away any thoughts about a reprimand and started the meeting.

After the lengthy debriefing, Daniel and Sam were finally allowed to go home.

Sam accompanied Daniel to his office to retrieve the materials he had brought in the day of the beginning of his last mission and, as he collected his books and folders, she told him, "All your stuff is at my house, even your car, so I'll drive you there first and then we can go by your house." She was not sure what was happening with their relationship and she did not want to say a word that could jeopardize what Daniel had planned.

He put his books down on his desk and softly said, "We need to talk, Sam."

She smiled and nodded, "I know."

He picked up everything again and they walked out. When they got to Sam's house, she walked straight to the kitchen as she said, "I have some awesome soup that Bill Lee's wife sent me. Everybody at the base has been spoiling me rotten since you left."

"That's good. I was worried that you could be sick and nobody would be here to help you. I should have trusted the people at the SGC," he said with a smile. Sam quickly heated up the soup and they both sat and ate in silence for a little while. Then Daniel put his spoon down and said, "Look, Sam, I don't want to have to hide what I feel anymore. I want to be part of this family. I apologize for being so open at the base. Perhaps I shouldn't have kissed you or taken you with me by your hand, but I missed you so much while I was in that jungle and I kept thinking of how stupid I had been not telling you what I felt…"

"Daniel, I-"

"Wait. Let me finish. For once in my life I have to be honest about my feelings and not keep them to myself." Sam quieted with a small smile of encouragement. "When you told me about going back to Pete, I realized how much I wanted to be that man in your life, the one who loved you, the one who gave you happiness, a child, but I thought it was better if you chose what you wanted. I didn't fight for what _I_ wanted and then I regretted it very much. This baby here," he said stretching out his hand and putting it on top of her belly, "is the product of all the love I feel for you. I didn't forget that for a second the weekend we conceived him, but I was afraid to let you know. In the jungle I finally confessed it to Teal'c and he said that he knew that you shared those feelings, so I promised myself that I wasn't going to waste another second playing hide and seek. I'm in love with you, you're in love with me, let's have a family together and enjoy this that we've been cultivating for almost ten years." He stopped, almost out of breath and looked at her.

"Yes," she said and her eyes filled with tears. "You're the man of words, Dr. Jackson. You said it right. Yes, I want to have a family with you, yes."

They both stood up and hugged each other, laughing about the logistics of a hug with a big pregnant belly in the middle, and then they sat down side by side and started planning their life together.

In less than a month, with the help of their friends, they managed to get married and move together to one house. Sam kept working at the SGC, but she decided that she did not need to go back to active duty. She could help fight the enemy from her lab and as long as Daniel was risking his life with SG-1, she would stay on Earth to take care of their family. Whenever they achieved peace, she would be back traveling through the gate for scientific purposes. The soldier was done with her career. She was a scientist with a family now.

One afternoon Daniel met Sam at the Infirmary as Dr. Lam performed a 4-D sonogram to check on the baby.

Dr. Lam checked the image and asked, "Do you want to know the sex of the baby?" Sam was about to ask Daniel to wait and see, to be surprised the day the baby was born, but then she thought of how dangerous Daniel's job was and that there was a chance that he would not live long enough to see the baby born. She shivered and then said, "I'd like to know. Do you mind, Daniel?"

"That's fine. No problem," he answered.

"Well, you can see it here in this image," Dr. Lam said, "but I have no doubts anyway because I've known since we performed the amniocentesis and checked for genetic defects, that it's a boy, a healthy boy."

Sam did not care if it was one or another; she was fascinated by the mere idea of having a child, but somehow it made her think of the first baby, the one she had always thought was a boy. "That's great," she said softly. "Just great."

Daniel smiled and held her hand as the doctor kept explaining what she saw in the image.

"So, have you thought of a name?" Daniel asked suddenly as he was driving home.

"I've thought of many, but I always feel like I'm leaving someone behind. I don't want to offend anyone," Sam said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, first I thought of Jacob, like my dad, but my brother said he wanted to call his next child Jacob and he's going to be born before ours. Two baby Jacobs in one family doesn't sound right. Then, I though of your dad, but, and I don't mean to offend you, Daniel, Melburn is not a very contemporary name. It sounds like the name of a grandpa."

Daniel laughed softly. "That's fine, I understand. No problem."

"Then there's Jack, or Jonathan, but what about Teal'c? Or George for General Hammond? They are all so important in our lives; I don't want to offend any of them. So maybe we can try Nicholas, for your grandfather."

"What about if we think of a name that has nothing to do with the important people in our lives, but more with our baby himself? Let's think of what names originally mean and we can go from there."

"Do you know what _Samantha_ means?" Sam asked, suddenly curious.

"It's Aramaic. It means _'listener'_, the one who listens to others."

"I'm glad that was not the meaning of _Jack_," Sam joked.

"No, _Jack_ usually comes from _John_, that means _'full of God's grace'_ in Hebrew, but our Jack's name is _Jonathan_, a variant, that means '_gift of God_'. There are slight variations in the translation, but that's it, more or less."

"What about _Daniel_?"

"_God is my judge_, or something similar. "_El_, _Eli_, would be _God_, that's why there are so many names that end in _–el, _like Samuel, Joel, or Isabel, and many more."

"Wow!" Sam thought for a little while and then asked, "What about something that tells him how much we love him?"

"Well, let's see. _David_ means _'beloved'_ and-"

"That's it. Perfect. I like it. _David_," she said slowly, as if savoring it. "Is it all right with you? I really like the idea of calling him _beloved_."

"If you like it, it's fine with me. Actually, _David_ was the _second_ king of Israel, after _Saul_, so it would be appropriate because he's our second baby," Daniel said with a smile.

Sam loved that he would think of the first baby. Everybody kept telling her that she should forget him and that he was not really a baby because she was too early in the pregnancy when she lost him. She knew better; she knew he had been there with her and that he would have been a great child if he had survived. She would never stop loving him. "Can we always call him _Saul_ from now on and not _'the first baby'_ as we usually do?"

"That sounds perfect to me," Daniel said and gave her a tender look as he smiled.

Sam sat back in her seat and enjoyed the idea of her babies having names.

After they got back home, she lay down on the bed on top of the covers to rest for a while. Daniel sat by her side and then leaned his head over her abdomen. Soon she started hearing him singing. She sat up part way and looked at him.

"What are you doing?" Sam asked with a smile.

"Singing to the baby," Daniel replied.

"_I wanna rock and roll all nite and party every day?_" Sam asked again. "I thought you were more into Classical Music," she joked.

"We'll try that, too. I just thought that tonight he's in the mood for rock and roll. You have to admit he's been kicking in rhythm," he added with a broad smile.

Sam leaned backwards again. She was feeling light, in spite of all the weight she had been gaining because of the pregnancy. She attributed it to being so happy. She had been right when she chose Daniel to father her child. He was going to be –he was already– an extraordinary father, a good father. She had also been right when she accepted his marriage proposal. They had been together only for two months, but they had been the two best months of her life. Of course she lived in fear of losing him in the battle against their powerful enemies, but whenever he was home, she locked those fears in the back of her mind and enjoyed their life as a family. That was what she had wanted the most, her own family. Very soon, David would be born and the family would be complete. They might even have more children in the future, but, for now, this was paradise. She did not need anything else.

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Any comments? Please, take a minute and give your opinion. It is very important for me to know what the readers think in order to decide how to continue a story or write the next one, or, if there is no interest, stop posting it here.


End file.
